"We have filed a grievance against JaMarcus Russell and that's all we're going to say at this time," Raiders attorney Jeff Birren told the web site.

The report said the grievance is "based on the contention by the Raiders that the contract was changed at one point" during Russell's three-year stay and, thus, is not allowed to keep all the money he had collected before being released on May 7.

As the No. 1 pick of the 2007 draft out of LSU, Russell was guaranteed $32 million in his six-year, $68-million contract. Some reports have Russell already pocketing at least $39 million.

Remember Russell's lengthy holdout that did not end until after the first game of his rookie season? It was thought at the time that the major sticking point was guaranteed money. And according to the report, a portion of the guaranteed $32 million was "originally" in salary advances for the 2010, 2011 and 2012 seasons. Does it add up to $9.55 million?

"The money in question was fully guaranteed," Eric Metz, one of Russell's two agents, told Yahoo! "That is why JaMarcus was forced to hold out and miss all of training camp as a rookie. The Raiders know that and this is our only comment."

The NFL Players Association will represent the currently-unemployed Russell in the grievance, the report said.

Rumors have abounded on the reasons for Russell's lack of work ethic and his off-field behavior. Be sure that more fodder for the rumor mill will be spit out in the coming weeks and months, or however long this case takes. Because remember, Al Davis is still at odds over money owed with both Mike Shanahan (since 1989) and Lane Kiffin (since 2008).

The Raiders should hope this does not overshadow what has been nothing but a positive offseason.

Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.

What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com

Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)

Here are some rules of the road:

 Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "report abuse" button to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.

 Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.

 Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.

 Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand. If you want to discuss an issue with a specific user, click on his profile name and send him a direct message.

 Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.

 Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.

 Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.

 Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.

You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.

If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to feedback@sacbee.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.

On October 14, The Sacramento Bee will temporarily remove commenting from sacbee.com. While we design the upgrade, we encourage you to tell us what you like and don't like about commenting on sacbee.com and other websites. We've heard from hundreds of you already and we're listening. Please continue to add your thoughts and questions here.
We also encourage you to write Letters to the Editor on this and other topics.

About Raiders Blog and Q&A

Matt Kawahara was born in Sacramento and attended McClatchy High School and UC Berkeley, where he wrote for the independent student paper The Daily Californian. He graduated from Cal in 2010 and started at The Sacramento Bee as a summer intern. He joined The Bee's sports staff in fall 2011.